Blogging For ELT

Blogging for ELT

This article takes a look at blogging, which is becoming increasingly popular as a language learning tool. It gives an overview of blogging websites, suggests why you might want to use them, and gives some practical advice on setting up blogs for use with your own classes.

What is a blog?

A blog (short for weblog) is a frequently updated website that often resembles an online journal. It's so easy to create and update a blog - it requires only basic access to the Internet, and a minimum of technical know-how. Because of this, it is one of the easiest ways to publish student writing on the WWW. It's almost as easy as sending an email.

Nowadays, blogs can also display photos and some people are using them with audio and even video, but this article will concentrate on the basics, showing how a simple text-based blog can be used to great effect with your English language learners.

Types of blogs used in language teaching

Aaron Campbell (2003) has outlined three types of blogs for use with language classes:

The Tutor Blog is run by the teacher of a class. The content of this type of blog can be limited to syllabus, course information, homework, assignments, etc. Or the teacher may choose to write about his or her life, sharing reflections about the local culture, target culture and language to stimulate online and in-class discussion. In this type of blog, students are normally restricted to being able to write comments to the teacher's posts. A great example of this is Aaron Campbell's own 'The New Tanuki' http://thenewtanuki.blogspot.com/

The Class Blog is a shared space, with teacher and students being able to write to the main area. It is best used as a collaborative discussion space, an extra-curricular extension of the classroom. Students can be encouraged to reflect in more depth, in writing, on themes touched upon in class. Students are given a greater sense of freedom and involvement than with the tutor blog. A very good example of what has been done with this type of blog is Barbara Dieu's 'Bee Online' http://beeonline.blogspot.com/) and 'Bee Online 2' http://beeonline2.blogspot.com/

The Learner Blog is the third type of blog and it requires more time and effort from the teacher to both set up and moderate, but is probably the most rewarding. It involves giving each student an individual blog. The benefit of this is that this becomes the student's own personal online space. Students can be encouraged to write frequently about what interests them, and can post comments on other students' blogs. For examples, see the links to learner blogs from the class blog and tutor blog examples above.

Of course, teachers who decide to use blogs often use a combination of Tutor or Class blog and Learner blogs, with hyperlinks connecting them.

Why blog?

So, why should you blog with your students? There are many reasons why you may choose to use weblogs with students. One of the best reasons is to provide a real audience for student writing. Usually, the teacher is the only person who reads student writing, and the focus of this reading is usually on form, not content. With weblogs, students can find themselves writing for a real audience that, apart from the teacher, may include their peers, students from other classes, or even other countries, their parents, and potentially anyone with access to the Internet.Here are some other reasons for using blogs:

To provide extra reading practice for students.

This reading can be produced by the teacher, other students in the same class, or, in the case of comments posted to a blog, by people from all over the world.
As online student learner journals that can be read by their peers. The value of using learner journals has been well documented. Usually they are private channels between teacher and student. Using a blog as a learner journal can increase the audience.
To guide students to online resources appropriate for their level.The Internet has a bewildering array of resources that are potentially useful for your students. The problem is finding and directing your learners to them. For this reason, you can use your tutor blog as a portal for your learners.

To increase the sense of community in a class.

A class blog can help foster a feeling of community between the members of a class, especially if learners are sharing information about themselves and their interests, and are responding to what other students are writing.

To encourage shy students to participate.

There is evidence to suggest that students who are quiet in class can find their voice when given the opportunity to express themselves in a blog.

To stimulate out-of-class discussion.

A blog can be an ideal space for pre-class or post-class discussion. And what students write about in the blog can also be used to promote discussion in class.

To encourage a process-writing approach.

Because students are writing for publication, they are usually more concerned about getting things right, and usually understand the value of rewriting more than if the only audience for their written work is the teacher.

As an online portfolio of student written work.

There is much to be gained from students keeping a portfolio of their work. One example is the ease at which learners can return to previous written work and evaluate the progress they have made during a course.

To help build a closer relationship between students in large classes.

Sometimes students in large classes can spend all year studying with the same people without getting to know them well. A blog is another tool that can help bring students together.

Where to start

There are lots of sites where you can set up a blog for free, but perhaps the best known and one of the most reliable and simple blogging tools to use with students is Blogger (http://blogger.com/). It takes only fifteen minutes from setting up an account to publishing the first post using this valuable tool.
The teacher sets up the tutor blog or a class blog. With a Class blog, students will need to be invited to participate by e-mail. Learner blog accounts can either be set up beforehand by the teacher, or done at the same time with a whole class in a computer room. The former gives the teacher more control of student accounts, but some advantages of the latter is that learners are given more choice (of username, design of the blog, etc) and a greater sense of 'ownership' of their new virtual writing space.

Tips for managing learner blog settings

Use the 'Settings' in Blogger to add yourself (under Members) as Administrator of the learner blog. This is invaluable if students later forget usernames or passwords, and can also help if inappropriate posts are published

Make sure you change the setting and turn the 'Comments' feature on. This will allow the others to respond to things the students write on their learner blogs.

Also in 'Settings', you will find an option to receive an email whenever a student publishes their blog. This will save you time regularly checking learner blogs to see if any of your students have posted. Another way of being informed of this is to use the 'Site Feed' function (discussed further below).

Keeping students interested

Many teachers who start to use blogs find the novelty factor is enough to create student interest in starting to use them. However, blogs work best when learners get into the habit of using them. If learners are not encouraged to post to their blogs frequently, then they can quickly be abandoned. A failed experiment. Here, the teacher in the role of facilitator is vital for maintaining student interest. Here are some ideas to how this can be done:
Respond to student posts quickly, writing a short comment related to the content. Ask questions about what the learner writes to create stimulus for writing.

Students should be actively encouraged to read and respond (through the commenting feature of the blog) to their classmates.

Writing to the blog could be required, and it may form part of the class assessment. Students should be encouraged to post their writing homework on the blog instead of only giving it to the teacher.

Some ideas for activities

Mystery guest. Invite another teacher or someone from another school or country as a mystery guest to your blog. Ask the students to engage him or her in dialogue and guess their identity.
Project work. A blog is an ideal space for developing a project, especially if the project is a shared one between several classes or even classes in different countries.

International link-ups.

Contact another educational establishment to see if they are interested in a joint blogging project. Students can write about their lives, culture, interests, etc, and be encouraged to read about the other class and respond by writing comments.

Photoblog.

If you plan on using photographs in your blog, there are lots of tools available to help you. Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/) makes publishing photographs to blogs easy. If you want to make photographs central to the blog, however, it is better to use a blogging tool such as Buzznet (http://www.buzznet.com/), which is a photo publishing tool and blog rolled into one.

Pitfalls to watch out for

Unwanted comments. To avoid unwanted comments, you can always restrict comments to people in the class or to registered bloggers.

Correction. It is difficult to use a blog for correcting students. Student written work can always be corrected before posting to the blog, or you can do class correction sessions using work published in the blogs.
Privacy. By their very nature, most blogs are public. Anyone with access to the Web can find and read a blog, and write comments (if this feature has been turned on). If privacy is an issue, then you will be better off using a blogging tool that allows different levels of access rights. Live Journal http://www.livejournal.com/ is a good choice, and is particularly popular with teenagers . Live Journal allows the setting up of a closed community, which could be restricted to the members of a class or to a wider circle including other classes, parents, etc.
Advanced feature
The easiest way to keep track of a lot of learner blogs is to use the 'Site Feed' feature. You will need to use another piece of software called a newsreader or aggregator to read site feeds. Using a newsreader means your e-mail in-box won't become cluttered with posted messages from students publishing their weblogs. One of the most popular, free web-based newsreaders is Bloglines http://www.bloglines.com/.
The BBC and British Council are not responsible for the content of external web sites.Further reading
Blog-efl. My own blog with information and comments for teachers of EFL/ESL interested in using blogs http://blog-efl.blogspot.com/'Weblogs for use with ESL classes' Campbell AP (2003) http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Campbell-Weblogs.html

Metode Kualitatif

Metode kualitatif juga sering dipadakan dengan :
1. Metode penelitian naturalistik, karena dilakukan pada kondisi yang alamiah
2. Metode Etnography, karena pada awalnya penelitian dipakai pada bidang antropologi budaya.

Sejarah penelitian ini dipengaruhi oleh filsafat post-positivisme yang juga sering disebut sebagai paradigma interpretif dan konstruktif, yang memandang realitas sosial sebagai sesuatu yang holistik/utuh, kompleks, dinamis dan penuh makna, dan hubungan gejala bersifat interaktif.Penelitian dilakukan pada obyek yang alamiah, yaitu obyek yang berkembang apa adanya , tidak dimanipulasi oleh peneliti dan kehadirannya tidak mempengaruhi dinamika pada obyek tersebut. Dalam penelitian ini orang akan berfungsi sebagai instrumenya atau human instrument, yaitu si peneliti itu sendiri. Sehingga untuk menjadi instrumen seorang peniliti harus dibekali teori dan wawasan luas dalam bertanya,menganalisa, memotret dan akhirnya mengkonstruksikan situasi sosial yang diteliti menjadi lebih bermakna.

Penelitian Kuantitatif

Metode Kuantitatif kadang juga disebut sebagai :

1. Metode tradisional, karena sudah lama dipakai dalam dunia penelitian dan sudah mentradisi.

2. Metode positivistik, karena dilandasi oleh filsafat positivisme.

3. Metode ilmiah/scientific, karena memenuhi kaidah-kaidah ilmiah yaitu konkrit/empiris, obyektif, terukur, rasional dan sistematis.

4. Metode discovery, karena metode ini dapat mengembangkan berbagai iptek baru.

5. Metode kuantitatif, karena data penelitian berupa angka-angka dan anilisisnya memakai statistik.

Maka metode kuantitatif dapat diartikan sebagai metode penelitian yang berlandaskan pada filsafat positivisme, digunakan untuk meneliti pada populasi atau sampel tertentu, teknik pengambilan sampel pada umumnya dilakukan secara random, pengumpulan datanya menggunakan instrumen penelitian, analisis data bersifat kuantitatif/statistik dengan tujuan untuk menguji hipotesis yang telah ditetapkan.

Language is different from speech.

What Is Language? What Is Speech?

Kelly's 4-year-old son, Tommy, has speech and language problems. Friends and family have a hard time understanding what he is saying. He speaks softly, and his sounds are not clear.
Jane had a stroke. She can only speak in one- to two-word sentences and cannot explain what she needs and wants. She also has trouble following simple directions.

Language is different from speech.

Language is made up of socially shared rules that include the following:

• What words mean (e.g., "star" can refer to a bright object in the night sky or a celebrity)
• How to make new words (e.g., friend, friendly, unfriendly)
• How to put words together (e.g., "Peg walked to the new store" rather than "Peg walk store new")
• What word combinations are best in what situations ("Would you mind moving your foot?" could quickly change to "Get off my foot, please!" if the first request did not produce results)

Speech is the verbal means of communicating. Speech consists of the following:

• Articulation: How speech sounds are made (e.g., children must learn how to produce the "r" sound in order to say "rabbit" instead of "wabbit").
• Voice: Use of the vocal folds and breathing to produce sound (e.g., the voice can be abused from overuse or misuse and can lead to hoarseness or loss of voice).
• Fluency: The rhythm of speech (e.g., hesitations or stuttering can affect fluency).

When a person has trouble understanding others (receptive language), or sharing thoughts, ideas, and feelings completely (expressive language), then he or she has a language disorder.

When a person is unable to produce speech sounds correctly or fluently, or has problems with his or her voice, then he or she has a speech disorder.

In our example, Tommy has a speech disorder that makes him hard to understand. If his lips, tongue, and mouth are not moved at the right time, then what he says will not sound right. Children who stutter, and people whose voices sound hoarse or nasal have speech problems as well.

Jane has a receptive and expressive language disorder. She does not have a good understanding of the meaning of words and how and when to use them. Because of this, she has trouble following directions and speaking in long sentences. Many others, including adults with aphasia and children with learning disabilities, have language problems.

Language and speech disorders can exist together or by themselves. The problem can be mild or severe. In any case, a comprehensive evaluation by a speech-language pathologist (SLP) certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is the first step to improving language and speech problems.

Ramadhan and Lebaran in Indonesia

Ramadhan and Lebaran In Indonesia

Idul Fitri, more commonly referred to in Indonesia as Lebaran, is the celebration that comes at the end of the Muslim month of fasting, Ramadhan. The Arabic meaning of Idul Fitri is “becoming holy again”.
The dates of the ninth month of the Muslim calendar, Ramadan, vary from year to year, as the Muslim calendar (Hijrah) is based on a lunar cycle of 29 or 30 days. The exact date is determined by the sighting of the new moon. These lunar calculations lead to an official announcement by the government on the eve of Ramadan and Idul Fitri so that the faithful know when to begin and end the fasting month. In 2009, Lebaran will fall on 21-22 September, with "collective leave" on September 18 & 23, 2009

Ramadhan

To understand the significance of Lebaran, an understanding about the fasting month of Ramadhan is important. During the month of Ramadhan, Muslims must refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, marital relations or getting angry during the daylight hours. In addition, those fasting are supposed to refrain from bad habits - lying, getting angry, using bad language as well as to be more diligent in prayer and give to charities. It is believe that fasting heightens spirituality and develops self-control.

The fast begins in the morning just before sunrise, at Imsak, and is broken at maghrib which falls at sunset. Fasting during the month of Ramadhan is one of the five pillars of Islam and an obligation for devout Muslims.

Those who are expected to fast include: adults (defined as those who have reached the age of puberty) and those who are sane. Those who are not expected to fast include: children, women having their period, travelers, the sick, those with long-term illnesses, pregnant or breastfeeding women and the mentally ill.

The faithful who fast awaken early in the morning to have a meal before subuh. In order to awaken the faithful, the call to prayer is sounded from neighborhood mosques. In addition, groups of young boys walk around neighborhoods beating on drums and other noise makers to awaken the faithful.

The breaking of the fast at sunset is a very social occasion for which special foods are prepared for gatherings with family or friends. Upon hearing the sound of the bedug drum on the television or the call to prayer from the neighborhood mosque at sunset, the faithful know it's time to break their fast, or buka puasa. This is usually done with a very sweet drink and sweet snacks. Maghrib prayers are made before a full meal is served. Taraweh prayers are held in neighborhood mosques and at gatherings every evening at about 7:30 p.m. These prayers are not compulsory, but they are enjoyed by many.

The schedule for Imsak and Maghrib is posted in major newspapers and on the television throughout Indonesia, as well as published in handouts by major religious organizations.
While it is expected that people will keep to their normal activities during the fast, needless to say the lack of liquid and food during the day and the unusual sleep and meal schedule soon take their toll. After the first week you may see that sleep and food deprivation cause those fasting to have reduced energy levels as well as finding it more difficult to concentrate on tasks.

Why does Islam oblige its followers to fast during Ramadhan each year?

• 
  
  To develop compassion for the poor and needy who feel hungry every day.


• 
  
  As a spiritually and physically cleansing experience. Just as in other world religions, fasting is seen as an opportunity to separate yourself from the things of this world and to concentrate on your relationship with God.


• 
  
  To become closer to God by contemplating his will in your life.


• 
  
  To build self-discipline and to become a better person.

Lebaran

At the end of the month of Ramadhan and its special religious observance is the Eid holiday, called Idul Fitri or Lebaran in Indonesia. In Indonesia, this is the time when Muslims visit their family and friends to ask for forgiveness for any wrongs they have committed in the previous year. They express this wish in the phrase “Mohon Maaf Lahir Batin” which means "forgive me from the bottom of my heart/soul for my wrongdoings in the past year". A traditional Arabic (Muslim) greeting for the Eid celebrations is also commonly used in Indonesia "Minal Aidin Wal Fa Idzin", which is expressed upon meeting friends and family during the festive days.

Traditional foods are consumed, family and friends gather to ask forgiveness and exchange greetings, new clothing is worn, children receive gifts of money and visits are made to recreational parks -- all to celebrate the successful completion of the fasting month. On Java, prior to the start of the fasting month (but not during it), visits are made to the graves of family ancestors (nyekar) to pay respects, clean the grave and leave flowers, causing major traffic jams near all major cemeteries.

Idul Fitri begins with mass prayer gatherings early in the morning at mosques, open fields, parks and on major streets. It is an amazing sight to see rows of hundreds of Muslim women all dressed in their mukena (white, head-to-toe prayer gowns) performing the synchronized prayer ritual. Muslim men tend to wear sarong, traditional shirts and peci hats to Idul Fitri morning prayers. On the walk home from the mass prayers, quick visits are made to friends in the neighborhood to ask for forgiveness.
Following the morning prayers and neighborhood visits, visits are made to close family members around town. Family members go to their parents first and then to the most senior relative's house (oldest person in the family) to “Mohon Maaf ...” with family members. Then depending on your age/status in the family, you visit aunts and uncles homes to do the same. At each house drinks and cookies or snacks are served, and since it is very impolite to refuse the food, by the end of the day you are so full you can hardly move. These customs may entail several days of visiting relatives and often there will be a gathering of family members at the senior-most relative's house.

Employees may also visit the homes of their senior bosses in the company or critical business colleagues and government officials to "Mohon Maaf ... " after their family visits are completed. In Jakarta, these customs entail days and days of visiting relatives and colleagues resulting in a great time of family reunions and upset to normal working/living schedules. Many people also take the opportunity of the Lebaran holiday to visit recreational parks.
While gathering with family, it is customary for the adults to give the young children some money ... they may meet you at the door shaking their wallets! It is also customary to distribute money to children in the poor neighborhoods around your home, Rp 500 or 1,000 per child will bring huge smiles to their faces!

In Jakarta neighborhoods there may also be organized fun and games sponsored by local businesses ... including climbing a greased pole to try to get to the prizes on the top called panjat pinang. A fun site to see!

Strongly held traditions to visit family at this time necessitate the exodus of 3 1/2 million (yes million!) people from Jakarta alone, as well as additional millions from other urban centers, to rural villages and hometowns for the Lebaran holiday. The logistics of this exodus cause headaches for the government each year. During this period the streets in Jakarta are nearly empty as the population decreases by nearly one third. The hardships and inconveniences endured by the travelers in overcrowded buses, trains and cars is unbelievable, yet they feel that this is a small price to pay to spend the holidays with their family and friends. Traditionally these urban dwellers come bearing gifts or money earned during the previous year for their family.

They often return from the exodus accompanied by relatives and friends looking for work in the cities, furthering the pressures of urbanization. The government attempts to prevent the “socially undesirable” such as beggars, vagrants and others from migrating to the cites, but the task is overwhelming.

During the weeks after Lebaran many groups hold halal bilhalal gatherings where employees from a company, friends, colleagues or members of an organization gather to share a meal and ask each other's forgiveness. Non-Muslims are often invited to participate in these festive gatherings also.

Various Traditions Associated with Ramadhan and Lebaran
Bazaar/Pasar Amal Organized by various civic, charitable and neighborhood organizations, goods are sold at discounted prices to help the poor celebrate the holidays with new clothing and special foods.

Bedug Lebaran The traditional bedug drums are beat at maghrib to notify the faithful that it is time to break the fast. Starting on the evening of the last day of Ramadhan and continuing throughout the night and into the following day, the bedug are also beaten in the takbiran celebrations either in stationary locations, or in parades through the streets. Takbiran is the prayer and celebration heralding the Idul Fitri holiday. Loud and boisterous parades and celebrations are held throughout the entire nation, which includes drum beating accompanied by amplified prayer and lively Islamic music.

Bingkisan Lebaran Elaborately wrapped parcels are given by business colleagues or associates to Muslims in the week prior to Lebaran. They are usually arranged in a rattan or wood basket and contain food, small household appliances or dishes.

Buka Puasa Breaking the fast, the meal at sunset.

Busana Muslim Fashionable Muslim apparel worn for festive occasions such as Lebaran.

Kartu Lebaran Many people send greeting cards to their Muslim friends (whether they themselves are Muslim or not). For sale in shops throughout the city, Lebaran card designs should not depict people or animals. Geometric designs, mosques, traditional textiles or ketupat are common. Most cards have the date of 1 Syawal 141_ H written on the card. You need to fill in the appropriate year in the space. In 2009, the Hijrah year is 1430, in 2010 will be 1431, etc.

Calligraphy artists design specialized cards for customers on sidewalks near post offices and major market areas.

Ketupat Traditionally eaten at Lebaran, the rhomboid-shaped ketupat casing is made of young coconut frond leaves that are still light green in color. Intricately woven by nimble fingered experts who can complete the weaving in 10 seconds, they are sold to the public at pasar (traditional markets) in bunches. The ketupat are filled with uncooked rice then steamed and left to cool before serving. The coconut leaf casing gives a unique flavor to the rice, one always associated with Lebaran. The ketupat is cut open, removed from the casing and cut into small chunks, then served with various accompanying vegetable and meat dishes (opor and sambal goreng), often cooked in spicy coconut milk.

Korma Dates from Iraq, Tunisia, the US and Saudi Arabia make their annual appearance in markets and supermarkets for the breaking of the fast.

Mudik The term for the exodus of millions of people from the urban centers to the villages in order to celebrate the Idul Fitri holiday with family and friends in the village. In 2009 government estimates the movement of people around the archipelago at 16,3 million people! This is a strongly held tradition and travelers happily endure a lot of hardships and inconveniences in overcrowded cars, buses and trains with seasonally inflated prices.

Puasa Fasting

Sungkem The Javanese custom of asking for forgiveness at Idul Fitri which demonstrates the respect given by young people to the family elders. The young person kneels and bows their head to the elders' knees and asks for forgiveness.

Santunan Ramadhan Donations to a charitable organization for distribution to the poor and needy at Lebaran.

Sembayang or shalat Ritual prayers that must be made five times each day by Muslims.
Takbiran The prayer celebration on the evening of the last day of Ramadhan, to herald in the

Idul Fitri holiday. Chants are praised to Allah, drums are beat endlessly, dances, songs, religious prayers and sermons are given in public displays of excitement and praise.

Zakat The obligatory poor tax that is paid by Muslims during the Lebaran period. Zakat should total 2.5% of one's income, depending on the nature of the gift. Zakat is paid to charitable organizations, neighborhood groups or through direct distribution to the poor and needy in the neighborhood. Zakat tax is deductible in Indonesia; the funds can be deducted from your gross income before figuring taxes.

Language Acquisition vs Language Learning

Language acquisition vs. language learning

There is an important distinction made by linguists between language acquisition and language learning. Children acquire language through a subconscious process during which they are unaware of grammatical rules. This is similar to the way they acquire their first language. They get a feel for what is and what isn’t correct. In order to acquire language, the learner needs a source of natural communication. The emphasis is on the text of the communication and not on the form. Young students who are in the process of acquiring English get plenty of “on the job” practice. They readily acquire the language to communicate with classmates.

Language learning, on the other hand, is not communicative. It is the result of direct instruction in the rules of language. And it certainly is not an age-appropriate activity for your young learners. In language learning, students have conscious knowledge of the new language and can talk about that knowledge. They can fill in the blanks on a grammar page. Research has shown, however, that knowing grammar rules does not necessarily result in good speaking or writing.r A student who has memorized the rules of the language may be able to succeed on a standardized test of English language but may not be able to speak or write correctly.

Learning English in Campus is not Enough, You Know

Hi guys, learning English is not just in campus, but you should try to expose your language anywhere. Meaning that the classroom of your campus is not the only a place for you all to develop your third language (L3), English.Indeed, talking about a campus is like discussing something academically but remember how often you have to meet with your lectures in a week, do you think that is enough time to get english progress.Or perhpas, you meet with your friends there and using english for telling something or talking ant topics ? I don't think so. You still need much time to utter anything in english. So ? what should we do? well keep on your good activities, but let you increase the duration to speak in English. For example , you chat with your friend on the way to campus then consult with your lecturers in the language as well.And just see what will be happened latter ? Of course without realizing you are going to be an English master.Wanna try ? Just do it. (SIS)

Happy Ramdahan

Marhaban Ya Ramadhan

Ramadan (also written Ramazan, Ramzan, Ramadhan, Ramdan, Ramadaan) is an Islamic religious observance that takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar; the month in which the Qur’an was revealed[Qur'an 2:185] to the Prophet Muhammad. In the western calendar, the dates of Ramadan vary, moving forward about ten days each year. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, sexual conduct, smoking, and indulging in anything that is in excess or ill-natured; from dawn until sunset.

Fasting is meant to teach the Muslim patience, modesty and spirituality. Rama??n is a time to fast for the sake of Allah, and to offer more prayer than usual. Muslims also believed through good actions, they get rewarded seventy times as much as they normally can achieve. During Ramadan, Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds.

Ramadan is one of the holy months in the Islamic calendar. Fasting in the month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. The month is spent by Muslims fasting during the daylight hours from dawn to sunset. The name came from the time before the Islamic calendar, when the month of Ramadan fell in the summer. Fasting during this month is often thought to figuratively burn away all sins. Muslims believe that the Qur’an was sent down to the earth during this month. Furthermore, the Prophet Muhammad told his followers that the gates of Heaven would be open all the month and the gates of Hell would be closed. The first day of the next month is spent in celebrations and is observed as the ‘Festival of Breaking Fast’ or `Eid ul-Fitr. (SIS)

Proclamation

PROCLAMATION
WE THE PEOPLE OF INDONESIA HEREBY DECLARE THE INDEPENDENCE OF INDONESIA. MATTERS WHICH CONCERN THE TRANSFER OF POWER ANDOTHER THINGS WILL BE EXECUTED

BY CAREFUL MEANS AND IN THE SHORTEST POSSIBLE TIME.
DJAKARTA, 17 AUGUST 1945
IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE OF INDONESIA
SOEKARNO—HATTA

METODE CLASS ROOM RESEARCH

METODOLOGI

1. Setting Penelitian

Setting penelitian perlu Anda uraikan secara rinci karena penting artinya bagi guru lain yang ingin meniru keberhasilan Anda. Mereka tentu akan mempertimbangkan masak-masak apakah ada kemiripan antara setting sekolahnya dengan setting penelitian Anda.

2. Perbedaan Mengajar Biasa dengan CAR

Dalam melakukan CAR kegiatan mengajar standar (biasa) berlangsung secara alami; tetapi ada bagian-bagian tertentu yang diberi perlakuan secara khusus dan diamati dampaknya secara seksama. Langkah-langkah seperti pembuatan satuan pelajaran, rencana pelajaran, lembaran kerja, dan alat bantu pembelajaran lainnya adalah langkah pembelajaran standar, bukan CAR. Asumsinya CAR dilaksanakan oleh guru yang sudah melaksanakan pembelajaran standar secara lengkap tetapi belum berhasil. Ia akan memodifikasi bagian-bagian tertentu dari pembelajaran standar itu. Bagian yang dimodifikasi itulah fokus dari CAR Anda.

3. Tahap Perencanaan

Tahap perencanaan CAR sebaiknya hanya menguraikan hal-hal yang berkaitan dengan CAR. Jika ada perubahan pada satuan pelajaran misalnya, hanya bagian yang diubah saja yang perlu diuraikan secara rinci. Akan lebih baik jika perubahan itu diletakkan dalam konteks satuan pelajaran aslinya sehingga terlihat jelas besar perubahan yang dilakukan. Perangkat-perangkat pembelajaran juga hanya tambahannya yang diuraikan secara rinci. Jika pembelajaran standar telah dilaksanakan dengan baik perangkat pembelajaran yang diperlukan untuk CAR dengan sendirinya sebagian besar sudah tersedia.
Yang sering terjadi dalam CAR selama ini pembelajaran standar belum dilaksanakan sehingga CAR menjadi wahana untuk mewujudkan pembelajaran standar. Hal itu terlihat dari latar belakang yang diuraikan secara emosional oleh peneliti, umumnya menggambarkan pembelajaran yang sangat tradisional, buruk, dan di bawah standar. Setelah sekolah mendapat bantuan dana peningkatan kualitas pembelajaran pun uraian latar belakang itu tidak menunjukkan adanya perubahan yang berarti. Secara tidak langsung ditunjukkan bahwa perlakuan-perlakuan yang diberikan oleh pemberi dana selama ini berlalu tanpa bekas.
Tahap perencanaan bisa memerlukan waktu setengah bulan karena harus mempersiapkan segala sesuatu yang diperlukan, termasuk di dalamnya adalah penyusunan jadwal, pembuatan instrumen, dan pemilihan kolaborator.

4. Siklus-siklus

Dalam CAR siklus merupakan ciri khas yang membedakannya dari penelitian jenis lain; oleh karena itu siklus harus dilaksanakan secara benar. Siklus pada hakikatnya adalah rangkaian “riset-aksi-riset-aksi- …” yang tidak ada dalam penelitian biasa. Dalam penelitian biasa hanya terdapat satu riset dan satu aksi kemudian disimpulkan. Dalam CAR hasil yang belum baik masih ada kesempatan untuk diperbaiki lagi sampai berhasil.

Siklus terdiri dari

(1) perencanaan

(2) pelaksanaan

(3) pengamatan

(4) refleksi

(5) perencanaan kembali.

Yang diuraikan dalam siklus hanya bagian yang dimodifikasi melalui action reseach, bukan seluruh proses pembelajaran. Modifikasi atau perubahan secara total jarang dilakukan dalam action research yang berskala kelas karena bagaimanapun sistem pendidikan secara umum masih belum berubah.
Misalnya Anda akan memodifikasi pembelajaran dengan memperbanyak penggunaan carta. Dalam “perencanaan” yang Anda uraikan adalah tentang carta itu saja, misalnya “Tiap pertemuan diusahakan akan ada carta yang digunakan dalam kelas.” Dalam “pelaksanaan” Anda uraikan kenyataan yang terjadi, apakah benar tiap pertemuan bisa digunakan carta, misalnya “Penggunaan carta tiap pertemuan hanya dapat dilakukan selama dua minggu pertama; minggu berikutnya rata-rata hanya satu carta tiap empat pertemuan.” Anda tentu saja dapat mengelaborasi “pelaksanaan” itu dengan menyebutkan carta-carta apa saja yang digunakan, saat-saat mana yang paling tepat untuk penggunaan, siapa yang menggunakan, berapa lama digunakan, berapa ukurannya, di mana disimpan, dsb., dsb. “Pengamatan” didominasi oleh data-data hasil pengukuran terhadap respons siswa, menggunakan berbagai instrumen yang telah disiapkan. “Refleksi” berisi penjelasan Anda tentang mengapa terjadi keberhasilan maupun kegagalan, diakhiri dengan perencanaan kembali untuk perlakuan pada siklus berikutnya.
Dalam action reseach selama ini banyak siklus yang bersifat semu, tidak sesuai dengan kaidah yang sudah baku. Inilah kelemahan-kelemahan yang terjadi.

1. Dalam siklus diuraikan semua proses pembelajaran, sehingga tidak dapat dilihat bagian yang sebenarnya sedang diteliti. Seolah-olah seluruh proses pembelajaran diubah secara total melalui CAR, dan sebelumnya pembelajaran berlangsung secara tradisional, buruk, dan di bawah standar.

2. Tidak jelas apakah perlakuan dalam suatu siklus dilakukan secara terus-menerus selama periode tertentu, sampai data pengamatan bersifat jenuh (menunjukkan pola yang menetap) dan diperoleh dari berbagai sumber (triangulasi). Sebagai analogi, jika selama satu minggu suhu badan pasien menunjukkan suhu 37,50 C; 370 C; 370 C; 37,50 C; 37,50 C; 37,50 C; dapatlah disimpulkan bahwa kondisinya telah kembali normal. Itu digabungkan dengan data pengamatan lain selama seminggu juga seperti perilaku, nafsu makan, dan denyut nadi pasien, yang bersifat triangulatif.

3. Siklus dilakukan tidak berdasarkan refleksi dari siklus sebelumnya. Ada siklus yang dilakukan secara tendensius: siklus pertama dengan metode ceramah, siklus kedua dengan demonstrasi, dan siklus ketiga dengan eksperimen, hanya ingin menunjukkan bahwa metode eksperimen adalah yang terbaik. Peneliti ini lupa bahwa metode harus disesuaikan dengan karakteristik materi pelajaran. Untuk materi pertama boleh jadi justru metode ceramah yang lebih cocok.

5. Instrumen
Instrumen merupakan bagian yang tidak kalah pentingnya dalam pelaksanaan CAR. Jenis instrumen harus sesuai dengan karakteristik variabel yang diamati. Triangulasi dan saturasi (kejenuhan informasi) perlu diperhatikan untuk menjamin validitas data.

KAJIAN TEORI

KAJIAN TEORI DAN HIPOTESIS TINDAKAN

1. Kajian Teori

Dalam membuat rumusan masalah di atas sebenarnya Anda telah melakukan “analisis penyebab masalah” sekaligus membuat “hipotesis tindakan” yang akan diberikan untuk memecahkan masalah tersebut. Untuk melakukan analisis secara tajam dan menjustifikasi perlakuan yang akan diberikan, Anda perlu merujuk pada teori-teori yang sudah ada. Tujuannya sekedar meyakinkan bahwa apa yang Anda lakukan dapat dipertanggungjawabkan secara profesional. Dalam hal ini proses kolaborasi memegang peranan yang sangat penting.
Anda juga perlu membaca hasil penelitian terakhir, termasuk CAR, siapa tahu apa yang akan Anda lakukan sudah pernah dilakukan oleh orang lain; Anda dapat mengambil manfaat dari pengalaman orang itu. Manfaat lain yang lebih penting, Anda akan mengetahui trend-trend baru yang sedang diperhatikan atau diteliti oleh para guru di seluruh dunia. Sekarang ini sedang nge-trend pembelajaran yang bernuansa quantum teaching, quantum learning, contextual learning, integrated curriculum, dan competency based curriculum yang semua berorientasi pada kepentingan siswa. Jika penelitian Anda masih berkutat pada pemberian drill dan PR agar nilai UAN mereka meningkat, tanpa memperdulikan rasa ketersiksaan siswa, profesionalisme Anda akan dipertanyakan.

2. Hipotesis Tindakan

Lakukanlah analisis penyebab masalah secara seksama agar tindakan yang Anda rencanakan berjalan dengan efektif. Hipotesis tindakan dapat Anda tuliskan secara eksplisit, tetapi dapat juga tidak karena pada dasarnya Anda belum tahu tindakan mana yang akan berdampak paling efektif.

IDENTIFIKASI, PEMILIHAN, DESKRIPSI, DAN RUMUSAN MASALAH

1. Identifikasi Masalah

Dalam mengidentifikasikan masalah, Anda sebaiknya menuliskan semua masalah yang Anda rasakan selama ini.

2. Pemilihan Masalah

Anda tidak mungkin memecahkan semua masalah yang teridentifikasikan itu secara sekaligus, dalam suatu action research yang berskala kelas. Masalah-masalah itu berbeda satu sama lain dalam hal kepentingan atau nilai strategisnya. Masalah yang satu boleh jadi merupakan penyebab dari masalah yang lain sehingga pemecahan terhadap yang satu akan berdampak pada yang lain; dua-duanya akan terpecahkan sekaligus. Untuk dapat memilih masalah secara tepat Anda perlu menyusun masalah-masalah itu berdasarkan kriteria tersebut: tingkat kepentingan, nilai strategis, dan nilai prerekuisit. Akhirnya Anda pilih salah satu dari masalah-masalah tersebut, misalnya “Siswa tidak dapat melihat hubungan antara mata pelajaran yang satu dengan yang lain.”

3. Deskripsi Masalah

Setelah Anda memilih salah satu masalah, deskripsikan masalah itu serinci mungkin untuk memberi gambaran tentang pentingnya masalah itu untuk dipecahkan ditinjau dari pengaruhnya terhadap pembelajaran secara umum maupun jumlah siswa yang terlibat.
Contoh: “Jika diberi pelajaran dengan pendekatan terpadu antara geografi, ekonomi, dan sejarah siswa merasa sukar mentransfer keterampilan dari satu pelajaran ke pelajaran lain. Pelajaran yang saya berikan adalah geografi, tetapi saya sering mengaitkan pembahasan dengan mata pelajaran lain seperti ekonomi dan sejarah. Ketika saya minta siswa mengemukakan hipotesis tentang pengaruh Danau Toba terhadap perkembangan ekonomi daerah, siswa terasa sangat bingung; padahal mereka telah dapat mengemukakan hipotesis dengan baik dalam mata pelajaran geografi. Saya khawatir siswa hanya menghafal pada saat dilatih mengemukakan hipotesis. Padahal dalam kehidupan sehari-hari keterampilan berhipotesis harus dapat diterapkan di mana saja dan dalam bidang studi apa saja. Pada hakikatnya setiap hari kita mengemukakan hipotesis. Ketidakbisaan siswa itu terjadi sepanjang tahun, tidak hanya pada permulaan tahun ajaran. Kelihatannya semua siswa mengalami hal yang sama, termasuk siswa yang cerdas. Guru lain ternyata juga mengalami hal yang sama, siswanya sukar mentransfer suatu keterampilan ke mata pelajaran lain.”

4. Rumusan Masalah

Setelah Anda memilih satu masalah secara seksama, selanjutnya Anda perlu merumuskan masalah itu secara komprehensif dan jelas. Sagor (1992) merinci rumusan masalah action research menggunakan lima pertanyaan:

1. Siapa yang terkena dampak negatifnya?


2. Siapa atau apa yang diperkirakan sebagai penyebab masalah itu?


3. Masalah apa sebenarnya itu?


4. Siapa yang menjadi tujuan perbaikan?


5. Apa yang akan dilakukan untuk mengatasi hal itu? (tidak wajib, merupakan hipotesis tindakan).
   

Contoh rumusan masalah:

• Siswa di SLTP-X tidak dapat melihat hubungan antara mata pelajaran yang satu dengan yang lain di sekolah (Ini menjawab pertanyaan 1 dan 3)


• Grup action research percaya bahwa hal ini merupakan hasil dari jadwal mata pelajaran dan cara guru mengajarkan materi tersebut (Ini menjawab pertanyaan 2)


• Kita menginginkan para siswa melihat relevansi kurikulum sekolah, mengapresiasi hubungan antara disiplin-disiplin akademis, dan dapat menerapkan keterampilan yang diperoleh dalam satu mata pelajaran untuk pemecahan masalah dalam mata pelajaran lain (Ini menjawab pertanyaan 4)


• Oleh karena itu kita merencanakan integrasi pembelajaran IPA, matematika, bahasa, dan IPS dalam satuan pelajaran interdisiplin berjudul Masyarakat dan Teknologi (Ini manjawab pertanyaan 5)

Contoh pertanyaan penelitian:

• Kesulitan apa yang dialami siswa dalam mentransfer keterampilan dari satu mata pelajaran satu ke mata pelajaran lain?


• Apakah siswa dapat mentrasfer keterampilan lebih mudah antara dua mata pelajaran yang disukai?


• Apa yang menyebabkan siswa menyukai suatu mata pelajaran?


• Apakah ada perbedaan antara prestasi belajar siswa yang belajar dalam kelas mata pelajaran multidisiplin dibandingkan dengan mereka yang dalam kelas mata pelajaran tunggal?

MASALAH YANG DIBICARAKAN DALAM CAR / PTK

MASALAH CAR

(THE PROBLEM IN CLASSROOM ACTION RESEARCH)

Berikut ini merupakan hal-hal yang perlu dipertimbangkan pada saat menentukan masalah CAR.

1. Banyaknya Masalah yang Dihadapi Guru

Setiap hari guru mengahadapi banyak masalah, seakan-akan masalah itu tidak ada putus-putusnya. Oleh karena itu guru yang tidak dapat menemukan masalah untuk CAR sungguh ironis. Merenunglah barang sejenak, atau ngobrollah dengan teman sejawat, Anda akan segera menemukan kembali seribu satu masalah yang telah merepotkan Anda selama ini.

2. Tiga Kelompok Masalah Pembelajaran

Masalah pembelajaran dapat digolongkan dalam tiga kategori, yaitu :

• pengorganisasian materi pelajaran,
• penyampaian materi pelajaran, dan
• pengelolaan kelas.

Jika Anda berfikir bahwa pembahasan suatu topik dari segi sejarah dan geografi secara bersama-sama akan lebih bermakna bagi siswa daripada pembahasan secara sendiri-sendiri, Anda sedang berhadapan dengan masalah pengorganisasian materi. Jika Anda suka dengan masalah metode dan media, sebenarnya Anda sedang berhadapan dengan masalah penyampaian materi. Apabila Anda menginginkan kerja kelompok antar siswa berjalan dengan lebih efektif, Anda berhadapan dengan masalah pengelolaan kelas. Jangan terikat pada satu kategori saja; kategori lain mungkin mempunyai masalah yang lebih penting.

3. Masalah yang Berada di Bawah Kendali Guru

Jika Anda yakin bahwa ketiadaan buku yang menyebabkan siswa sukar membaca kembali materi pelajaran dan mengerjakan PR di rumah, Anda tidak perlu melakukan CAR untuk meningkatkan kebiasaan belajar siswa di rumah. Dengan dibelikan buku masalah itu akan terpecahkan, dan itu di luar kemampuan Anda. Dengan perkataan lain yakinkan bahwa masalah yang akan Anda pecahkan cukup layak (feasible), berada di dalam wilayah pembelajaran, yang Anda kuasai. Contoh lain masalah yang berada di luar kemampuan Anda adalah: Kebisingan kelas karena sekolah berada di dekat jalan raya.

4. Masalah yang Terlalu Besar

Nilai UAN yang tetap rendah dari tahun ke tahun merupakan masalah yang terlalu besar untuk dipercahkan melalui CAR, apalagi untuk CAR individual yang cakupannya hanya kelas. Faktor yang mempengaruhi Nilai UAN sangat kompleks mencakup seluruh sistem pendidikan. Pilihlah masalah yang sekiranya mampu untuk Anda pecahkan.

5. Masalah yang Terlalu Kecil

Masalah yang terlalu kecil baik dari segi pengaruhnya terhadap pembelajaran secara keseluruhan maupun jumlah siswa yang terlibat sebaiknya dipertimbangkan kembali, terutama jika penelitian itu dibiayai oleh pihak lain. Sangat lambatnya dua orang siswa dalam mengikuti pelajaran Anda misalnya, termasuk masalah kecil karena hanya menyangkut dua orang siswa; sementara masih banyak masalah lain yang menyangkut kepentingan sebagian besar siswa.

6. Masalah yang Cukup Besar dan Strategis

Kesulitan siswa memahami bacaan secara cepat merupakan contoh dari masalah yang cukup besar dan strategis karena diperlukan bagi sebagian besar mata pelajaran. Semua siswa memerlukan keterampilan itu, dan dampaknya terhadap proses belajar siswa cukup besar. Sukarnya siswa berkonsentrasi dalam mengikuti pelajaran, dan ketidaktahuan siswa tentang meta belajar (belajar bagaimana belajar) merupakan contoh lain dari masalah yang cukup besar dan strategis. Dengan demikian pemecahan masalah akan memberi manfaat yang besar dan jelas.

7. Masalah yang Anda Senangi

Akhirnya Anda harus merasa memiliki dan senang terhadap masalah yang Anda teliti. Hal itu diindikasikan dengan rasa penasaran Anda terhadap masalah itu dan keinginan Anda untuk segera tahu hasil-hasil setiap perlakukan yang diberikan.

8. Masalah yang Riil dan Problematik

Jangan mencari-cari masalah hanya karena Anda ingin mempunyai masalah yang berbeda dengan orang lain. Pilihlah masalah yang riil, ada dalam pekerjaan Anda sehari-hari dan memang problematik (memerlukan pemecahan, dan jika ditunda dampak negatifnya cukup besar).

MODEL-MODEL ACTION RESEARCH

B. MODEL – MODEL ACTION RESEARCH

Model Kurt Lewin menjadi acuan pokok atau dasar dari berbagai model action research, terutama classroom action research. Dialah orang pertama yang memperkenalkan action research. Konsep pokok action research menurut Kurt Lewin terdiri dari empat komponen, yaitu :

(1) perencanaan (planning),

(2) tindakan (acting),

(3) pengamatan (observing), dan

(4) refleksi (reflecting).

Hubungan keempat komponen itu dipandang sebagai satu siklus.
Model Kemmis & Taggart merupakan pengembangan dari konsep dasar yang diperkenalkan Kurt lewin seperti yang diuraikan di atas, hanya saja komponen acting dan observing dijadikan satu kesatuan karena keduanya merupakan tindakan yang tidak terpisahkan, terjadi dalam waktu yang sama

PENGERTIAN ACTION RESEARCH

PENELITIAN TINDAKAN KELAS
(Classroom Action Research)

A. PENGERTIAN

Classroom action research (CAR) adalah action research yang dilaksanakan oleh guru di dalam kelas. Action research pada hakikatnya merupakan rangkaian “riset-tindakan-riset-tindakan- …”, yang dilakukan secara siklik, dalam rangka memecahkan masalah, sampai masalah itu terpecahkan. Ada beberapa jenis action research, dua di antaranya adalah individual action research dan collaborative action research (CAR). Jadi CAR bisa berarti dua hal, yaitu classroom action research dan collaborative action research; dua-duanya merujuk pada hal yang sama.
Action research termasuk penelitian kualitatif walaupun data yang dikumpulkan bisa saja bersifat kuantitatif. Action research berbeda dengan penelitian formal, yang bertujuan untuk menguji hipotesis dan membangun teori yang bersifat umum (general). Action research lebih bertujuan untuk memperbaiki kinerja, sifatnya kontekstual dan hasilnya tidak untuk digeneralisasi. Namun demikian hasil action research dapat saja diterapkan oleh orang lain yang mempunyai latar yang mirip dengan yang dimliki peneliti.

Perbedaan antara penelitian formal dengan classroom action research disajikan dapat dilihat

sebagai berikut :

Penelitian Formal

• Penelitian Formal
• Dilakukan oleh orang lain
• Sampel harus representatif
• Instrumen harus valid dan reliabel
• Menuntut penggunaan analisis statistic
• Mempersyaratkan hipotesis
• Mengembangkan teori

Classroom Action Research

• Dilakukan oleh guru/dosen
• Kerepresentatifan sampel tidak diperhatikan
• Instrumen harus valid dan reliabel
• Menuntut penggunaan analisis statistic
• Tidak selalu menggunakan hipotesis
• Memperbaiki praktik pembelajaran secara langsung

ACTION RESEARCH FOR ESL TEACHING

Improving Teacher-Student Interaction
in the EFL Classroom: An Action Research Report
by Jonathan Snell

A common problem for EFL teachers is dealing with a passive class, where students are unresponsive and avoid interaction with the teacher. This is especially true when a teacher seeks interaction in a teacher-class dialog, such as asking questions to the class as a whole, expecting at least one student to respond. This can be a frustrating experience for both parties. Obviously, there will be times when no student can answer a teacher's question, but often students do not answer even if they understand the question, know the answer, and are able to produce the answer. Furthermore, students can often be very reluctant to give feedback or ask the teacher a question in front of the class. This action research project attempted to explore this problem and sought to create a more interactive teacher-class interchange in one class of Japanese adult English learners.

Action Research Defined

Action research is concerned with trying to improving one specific point in a teacher's technique in a particular classroom using empirical measurement. Richards, Platt & Platt (1992) have defined it as:

Teacher-initiated classroom research which seeks to increase the teacher's understanding of classroom teaching and learning and to bring about improvements in classroom practices. Action research typically involves small-scale investigate projects in the teacher's own classrooms. This usually includes having an observer collect data, and together with the teacher develop a plan to bring about the desired change, act on the plan, and then observe the effects of the plan in the classroom.

Class Description

The class observed was a group of twenty-three sophomores majoring in Japanese at a small private Tokyo women's college. The teacher was an American male with several years teaching experience at Japanese universities. The goal of this required class is to teach the students basic English conversation, reading, listening and writing skills. Their English ability level ranged from upper beginner to intermediate. During the observation period, the students appeared motivated and attentive, and they seemed to be enjoying the class.

Problem Identification

The students, as a class, didn't respond voluntarily to the instructor's questions and did not participate in class discussions. Students also never asked the teacher questions outside one-on-one situations. Thus the teacher received little oral feedback. According to the teacher:
Most of the class members sit looking straight ahead using minimal facial expressions, gestures and verbal utterances. What I want is for the students to be more demonstrative and more overtly communicative in their feedback. I want these behaviors: I want the students to ask questions, make comments and to respond with nods and shakes of the head, with sounds of agreement or sounds of understanding. Also, I want them to be both reactive and proactive.

Preliminary Investigation

I observed the teacher's class in the fourth week of the semester. In the first 45 minutes, the class went through an intermediate level taped dialogue. The students first listened to the tape with their books closed, then again with the books opened. Next, they did a dictation exercise consisting of 25 short sentences based on the dialogue. The teacher then talked about the sociolinguistic and grammar points of the exercise and went on to probe for comprehension:

T : Any questions? Do you understand everything?
Ss : Š(no one responds)
T : Okay, how many people were speaking?
Ss : Š(no response)
T : How many people were speaking?
Ss : Š(no response)
T : There were two. Two people. Were they friends or strangers?
Ss : Š(no response)Š

The teacher asked a few other questions which also drew no response or reaction from the students. The students then had to answer some questions about the conversation in their book. Most of the students seemed to have little trouble doing this, and if there were any questions, they readily asked the student sitting next to them.
The second half of the class was devoted to pair work using the phrases and vocabulary from the taped dialogue in role play. The students seemed to enjoy this, and most tried to create their own dialogues. The teacher circulated the room checking on the progress of each pair. The class atmosphere was markedly different from the first half of the class, with chatter and occasional laughter filling the air. The students answered most of the teacher's questions with alacrity, and some even asked their own questions.

Hypothesis

Because the students seemed to generally understand the teacher's questions, it was felt that there was something else that kept the students from responding voluntarily in the class-teacher dialogues. Since most Japanese students are taught to listen and not to question a teacher in class, Japanese students have little or no experience in in-class interaction with the teacher, such as questioning or commenting or giving feedback. Students are usually taught to be quiet and respectfully listen to the teacher.

By teaching the students that class interaction with the English teacher is not only acceptable, but normal, useful and beneficial, it was believed that the students would become more interactive with the teacher in teacher-class interaction.

Plan Intervention

Following the hypothesis, two steps were taken to implement a plan:
First, on the following class, the teacher distributed an explanatory paragraph about "rules" for asking questions in class in English speaking countries. The teacher made an exercise out of it and had students read the paragraph out loud to the class and explained a few difficult words and spent additional time expanding on the text. The "rules" were extrapolated from a culture point in Helgesen & Brown (1994) and were as follows:
Each culture has different "rules" about how students should act in the classroom. In some countries, students are expected to listen and only the teacher should lecture or talk in class. But in English-speaking countries (and in English class), it is good-and important-to answer the teacher's questions and interrupt with questions of your own. It means that you are interested and paying attention. In English, it is your job to ask questions if you don't understand. (p. 3)
The teacher went on to say that if they still felt uncomfortable asking and answering questions, they had to at least nod or shake their head as a response to the teacher's questions.
Secondly, the teacher reminded the students of the "rules" at the beginning of each subsequent class and further encouraged them to become more active in the class when the instructor was talking.

Outcome

In the eighth week of the semester, the class was observed again. A lesson similar to the one in the fourth week was presented. At the beginning, the instructor reminded the class of the "rules." After playing the taped dialogue twice, the teacher began talking about the dialogue, making grammar, usage and sociolinguistic points, interspersed with questions about the passage and the instructor's explanations. This went on for about twenty minutes and included general comprehension check questions such as 'do you understand?' and 'are you okay?' as well as specific questions about the dialogue.

Regarding general comprehension questions, most of the students did nod in response and a few answered 'yes' to these questions. And it was believed that they did, in fact, understand.
With the specific questions, however, something unexpected happened. When the teacher asked a question, he was usually greeted with poker-faced stares, as before. But when he moved closer, looked specifically at a student, or pair of students, and repeated the question, the students usually tried to answer. In general, I noted, the instructor was paying much more attention to the students, moving closer to them, and looking at specific students and trying to make a better connection with them. Instead of asking questions with the feeling that they really weren't going to be answered anyway, as before, the teacher made a greater effort to communicate the questions, and acted as if he expected to get responses.
Also, toward the end of the instructor's talk on the dialogue, two students, without prompting from the teacher, asked questions before the class. Although the questions were not related directly to the dialogue, the fact that the questions were asked before the entire class was considered a breakthrough.

Conclusion

There were some areas where the results of this action research were not as successful as hoped. For instance, the students needed to be prompted with eye contact and a repeated question from the teacher to answer a question, and when they did not understand something, they still did not interrupt the teacher with a question.
And yet some progress was definitely made, especially when the brief span between observations is considered. The students did interact with the teacher by nodding, some did answer the instructor's questions, and two, on their own initiation, even asked questions before the class. The unanticipated side effect of the teacher becoming more concerned with the interaction was a welcome surprise and contributed to the improvement. There seems to have been some success in instructing and reminding and then expecting the students to become more interactive with the teacher.

Reflection

This action research project forced both the teacher and the observer to remember that ESL teachers in Japan are not just teaching a language, but also a culture, and this includes instructing the sociolinguistics appropriate for the native English speaking classroom. Perhaps more importantly, they had to think about why the cultures are different, in this respect, and how to try and bridge that difference. This lead to questioning the conventional notion that Japanese students simply do not like the native English speaking classroom culture.
An additional reason for interest in the problem addressed here was the belief that this was a common problem in Japan. Teachers, especially native English speaking ones, often become frustrated with a lack of initial success in obtaining an interactive dialogue with the class. This often leads them to mistake a lack of familiarity with a lack of interest, and to teach within the students' culturally conditioned classroom expectations, instead of introducing the expectations commonly found in classrooms in English speaking counties. While intending to be more accommodating to students, they are failing to give students a useful sociolinguistic skill, which students would likely want and derive benefit. Some may think encouraging the use of this student-teacher interaction common in native English speaking counties is culturally arrogant. But if it is introduced in a sensitive and reasonable manner, it actually contributes to a more fulfilling English class. After all, most students don't study English just for linguistic competence. They will also want to develop sociolinguistic competence for communicating in different situations in English speaking countries, and this includes the classroom.

Reference
Helgesen, M. & Brown, S. (1994) Active listening: Building skills for understanding. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.
Richards, J. C., Platt, J., & Platt, H. (1992) Dictionary of language teaching & applied linguistics (2nd ed.). Essex: Longman.

Type of Paragraph II

http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/fwalters/cause.html

Type of Paragraph I

http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/fwalters/compcont.html

Basic Essay Structure

http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/fwalters/essaybasic.html

Coherence and Unity

http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/fwalters/cohere.html

Basic Paragraph

http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/fwalters/para.html

Methods, Post-method, and Metodos

Methods, post-method, and métodos

A language teaching method is a single set of procedures which teachers are to follow in the classroom. Methods are usually based on a set of beliefs about the nature of language and learning.' (Nunan, 2003, p. 5).

Ask teachers what method they subscribe to, and most will answer either that they don’t follow a method at all, or that they are 'eclectic', and pick and choose from techniques and procedures associated with a variety of different methods. Some might add that, essentially, their teaching follows the principles laid down by the communicative approach, itself a mixed bag, embracing anything from drills to communicative tasks, and everything in between. But the concept of a single, prescriptive 'method' - as in the Direct Method, or the Oral Method – seems now to be dead and buried.

The end of methods

The demise of method is consistent with the widely held view that we are now in a 'post-method' era. Thus, as long ago as 1983, Stern declared that 'several developments indicate a shift in language pedagogy away from the single method concept as the main approach to language teaching' (1983, p. 477). One such development was the failure, on the part of researchers, to find any significant advantage in one method over another. As Richards (1990) noted, 'studies of the effectiveness of specific methods have had a hard time demonstrating that the method itself, rather than other factors, such as the teacher’s enthusiasm, or the novelty of the new method, was the crucial variable' (p. 36). Moreover, recognition of the huge range of variables that impact on second language learning fuelled a general disenchantment with the notion of a 'quick fix', or what, in the social sciences, is sometimes called the 'technical-rational approach', i.e. the notion that social change and improvement can be effected through the strict application of scientific method. This had very much been the mind-set that impelled the spread of audiolingualism, founded as it was on (now largely discredited) research into animal behaviour. The last decades of the last century, however, witnessed a challenge to 'scientism' in the social sciences, a challenge associated with the advent of postmodernism, and its rejection of the idea of universalist, objective knowledge. Accordingly, Pennycook (1989) argued that methods are never 'disinterested', but serve the dominant power structures in society, leading to 'a de-skilling of the role of teachers, and greater institutional control over classroom practice'(p. 610).

The postmethod era

At around the same time, Kumaravadivelu (1994) identified what he called the 'postmethod condition', a result of 'the widespread dissatisfaction with the conventional concept of method' (p. 43). Rather than subscribe to a single set of procedures, postmethod teachers adapt their approach in accordance with local, contextual factors, while at the same time being guided by a number of 'macrostrategies'. Two such macrostrategies are 'Maximise learning opportunities' and 'Promote learner autonomy'. And in a much-cited paper in 1990, Prabhu argued that there is no one method, but that individual teachers fashion an approach that accords uniquely with their 'sense of plausibility.'

Nevertheless, and in spite of the claims of the postmethodists, the notion of method does not seem to have gone away completely. In fact, it seems to be doggedly persistent, even if the term itself is often replaced by its synonyms. In the on-line advertising for language courses, for example, we find the following:
'Developed and used over years in the classroom, the earworms mbt® method has shown phenomenal success….'
'The Byki approach to learning languages… is the fastest possible way to lock foreign words and phrases in your long-term memory.'
'Rosetta Stone software is built around a concept called Dynamic Immersion, an [sic] unique learning method that uses a computer to mimic the ways in which you learnt your first language.'
It seems that – in the public mind, at least – the method concept is not dead. As Block (2001) notes, 'while method has been discredited at an etic level (that is in the thinking and nomenclature of scholars), it certainly retains a great deal of vitality at the grass-roots, emic level (that is, it is still part of the nomenclature of lay people and teachers)' (p. 72). This is a view echoed by Bell (2007) who interviewed a number of teachers on the subject, and concluded:

'Methods, however the term is defined, are not dead. Teachers seem to be aware of both the usefulness of methods and the need to go beyond them.' (p. 143).
On the other hand, in a recent paper, Akbari (2008) suggests that, in EFL contexts such as Iran, it is textbooks that have largely replaced methods in their traditional sense:
'The concept of method has not been replaced by the concept of postmethod but rather by an era of textbook-defined practice. What the majority of teachers teach and how they teach... are now determined by textbooks' (p. 647).

Textbooks and método

In fact, the conflation of method with textbook is an idea with a long history, especially in the Spanish-speaking world, where the two concepts share a single name: método. Direct Method and Grammar-Translation courses, in particular, were often named after their progenitor, as in El Método Kucera (Barcelona, 1954), El Método Girau (Barcelona, 1925), and the El Método Massé-Dixon (Barcelona, n.d.).

I, too, contend that the concept of method is not only alive and well, but has been reincarnated in the form of coursebooks, such that it would be valid to talk about the Soars and Soars Method, or the Cunningham and Moor Method, since it is coursebook series like Headway and Cutting Edge that – more than any other factor – determine and define current teaching practice. That is to say, rather than the método embodying a specific method, the método is the method.

What is a method?

What is it, after all, that defines a method? In their Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (2002), Richards and Schmidt make the reasonable claim that 'different methods of language teaching... result from different views of:

a. the nature of language
b. the nature of second language learning
c. goals and objectives in teaching
d. the type of syllabus to use
e. the role of teachers, learners, instructional materials
f. the activities, techniques and procedures to use'
(p. 330)

Even a cursory glance at their content and at the way they are marketed confirms the fact that the writers and publishers of coursebooks take particular positions, either explicitly or implicitly, with regard to each of these areas. The theory of language that coursebooks instantiate, for example, is clear from their contents pages, where language is typically construed as a system of 'accumulated entities' (Rutherford, 1987), or what I have referred to elsewhere as grammar McNuggets. As Basturkmen (1999) concluded, after reviewing the cover blurbs of a number of current coursebooks, 'the emphasis [is] on the underlying generative base or language rules rather than on surface level aspects of use' (p. 34).
Coursebooks and second language learning
The 'nature of second language learning', as evidenced from coursebooks, seems generally to follow a cognitive model, where declarative knowledge is proceduralised through successive practice activities. The back cover of Inside Out (Kay and Jones, 2001), for example, makes the claim that 'easy-to-use exercises put rules into practice – and are then recycled as speaking activities'. As for 'the goals and objectives of language learning', these tend to be loosely aligned with those of the communicative approach. Inside Out, for example, 'has been designed to develop real-life communicative skills and powers of self-expression' (Kay and Jones, op. cit), while Cutting Edge (Cunningham and Moor, 1998) aims at 'improved confidence and fluency' as well as 'a clearer understanding of how language is used'. (There is, of course, no recognition that the discrete-item focus of the syllabus might be at odds with these more holistic objectives.) With regard to the syllabus, the grammar 'canon' predominates, but the influence of the lexical approach (Lewis, 1993) and of corpus linguistics is now apparent. Innovations (Dellar and Hocking, 2000) 'has a strongly lexical syllabus, presenting and practising hundreds of natural expressions which students will find immediately useful', and Natural English (Gairns and Redman, 2002a) offers 'a new syllabus area called natural English – accessible, high-frequency phrases which intermediate students can pick up and use'.

The role of the teacher

The 'role of teachers, learners and instructional materials' is most clearly demonstrated in the Teacher’s Book component, where the teacher’s role is both didactic and facilitative, and serves primarily to mediate the coursebook materials, by, for example, explaining, demonstrating and modelling language items, and by setting up and monitoring student interactions. For example (from Gairns and Redman, 2002b):
'Once learners have thought about exercise 1, go over the language in the natural English box. You could model the phrases and replies yourself and ask learners to repeat them, then practise the two-line dialogues across the class' (p. 24).
The guidelines typically construe the teacher as the locus of control in the classroom and even at times imply that the learners are potentially disruptive:
'Don’t let the false beginners dominate the real beginners or pull you along too quickly… Encourage [the false beginners] to concentrate on areas where they can improve (e.g. pronunciation) and don’t let them think they know it all!' [Oxenden and Seligson, 1996, p. 15]
Nevertheless, occasional reference is made to the need to encourage learner agency and autonomy. For example, 'Choices within tasks encourage learners to take charge of interactions' (Kay and Jones, op. cit). Unsurprisingly, though, the coursebook forms the core component of instruction: it is both the medium and the message.

Finally, the types of 'activities, techniques and procedures to use' draw on a range of methodological approaches (but scarcely ever involve translation, or encourage the use of, or any reference to, the learners’ L1). The influence of the communicative approach appears to be strong, with most courses including information-gap tasks, and texts that, if not authentic, attempt to simulate the same. There is a strong skills focus, and the distribution of the material is weighted more towards skills-based activities than language-focused ones. The dominant model for representing English is a native-speaker one, and both the topics and the design of the materials reflect an 'aspirational culture' (Gray, 2002) of travel, consumerism and popular culture.

Conclusions

Here, then, are the ingredients of a method, enshrined in a método. Teachers who claim not to be following a method, but who are using a coursebook, are as much method-bound as the Direct Method practitioners of Berlitz’s day, or the Audiolingualists of Lado’s. Of course, teachers will argue that they use coursebooks selectively, in accordance with their own principles as well as the needs of the learners. Fair enough, but however selective a teacher is, he or she is still tied to a theory of language, embodied in the way that the course selects and describes language, and to a theory of learning, as manifested in the way the course prioritises certain types of activity over others.

References

Akbari, R. (2008). Postmethod discourse and practice. TESOL Quarterly, 42/4.Basturkman, H. (1999) A content analysis of ELT textbook blurbs: reflections on theory-in-use. RELC Journal, 30/1.
Bell, D. (2007) Do teachers think that methods are dead? ELT Journal, 61.
Block, D. (2001) An exploration of the art and science debate in language education. In Bax, M, and Zwart, J.-W (eds.) Reflections on language and language learning: In honour of Arthur van Essen. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

SOLO INFORMATION

http://www.kotasolo.info

SCHOOLS REGRISTRATION ON LINE IN SOLO

http://www.ppdbsolo.net

Teaching and Learning Strategies

http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/front_strategies.html

How to write English well

http://rwc.hunter.cuny.edu/reading-writing/on-line-text.html

The interactional view of language

Introduction

The interactional view of language sees language primarily as the means for establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships and for performing social transactions between individuals.

Areas of research drawn on

Here are some of the areas of research in this view of language:

interactional analysis
conversational analysis
ethnomethodology

Target of language learning

The target of language learning in the interactional view is learning to initiate and maintain conversations with other people.

Approaches and methods based on this view

Some of the language learning approaches and methods based on this view of language are:

Strategic interaction
communicative approaches

Source

Adapted from Richards and Rodgers 1986

The communicative view of language

Introduction

The communicative, or functional view of language is the view that language is a vehicle for the expression of functional meaning. The semantic and communicative dimensions of language are more emphasized than the grammatical characteristics, although these are also included.

Areas of research drawn on

Here are some of the areas of research in this view of language:

sociolinguistics
pragmatics
semantics

Target of language learning

The target of language learning is to learn to express communication functions and categories of meaning

Approaches and methods based on this view

Some of the language learning approaches and methods based on this view of language are:

communicative approaches
functional-notional syllabuses
The Natural Approach

Source

Adapted from Richards and Rodgers 1986